Adhesive applying device for case closing and sealing apparatus



Nov. 3, 1953 4 K. HOLSTEBROE ET AL ADHESIVE APPLYING DEVICE FOR CASE CLOSING AND SEALING APPARATUS Origirgal Filed Aug-L7, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS RYE HOLJTEBEU 06m? fl/PDELL,

Nov. 3, 1953 K. HOLSTE'BROE EI'AL 2,657,664

ADHESIVE APPLYING DEVICE FOR CASE CLOSING AND SEALING APPARATUS Original Filed Aug. 7, 1.946

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 5 Mn WHOLSTEBR obj EDGAR fl/PQELL,

K. HOLSTEBROE ETAL 7, 6

ADHESIVE APPLYING DEVICE FOR' CASE Nov. 3, l 953 CLOSING AND SEALING APPARATUS Original Filed Aug. 7, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS KQYA HOLJTEEPOE, E069? APDELL" p LUDW/q MMMEE.

6m f 444.4 M

ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 3, 1953 ADHESIVE" APPLYING DEVICEv FOR" CASE CLOSING AND SEALING APPARATUS Kaye Holstebroe, Gildersleeve, and Edgar Ardel and Ludwig Wimmer, Middletown, Gonn.,. assignors to Emhart. Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Delaware Original application August 7, 1946, Serial No. 688,950.: Divided and this application March 13, 1951, Serial No..215,308

6 Claims.

This invention relates to adhesive app yin devices and more particularly todevices. for applying liquid adhesive material. to upright or vertical surfaces, such, for example, as the flaps of" shipping cases or cartons. Shipp cases are usually made of corrugated board or fibre board, having one or more of theirv faces for example, the top and bottom faces of the case. closed by flap extensions, from the body of the. case. To prepare the filled case for shipment, such flaps are folded against one another and held in place by suitable adhesive.

In certain types of apparatus for automatically closing and sealing shipp n cases, it is necessaryor desirable to apply liquid adhesive to certain of'the flaps while they are in an upright and usually vertical position. The handling of liquid adhesive andapplying it in the desired thin uniform coating on the vertical flap surface presents something of" a problem. Various mechanisms have heretofore been proposed for accomplishing this, but for one reason. or another they are not entirely satisfactory. Accordingly, the prime object of the present invention is to provide animproved device or mechanism, by means of which liquid adhesive can be coated upon the surfaces of one or more flaps while in the vertical position.

This application is a division of applicants copending application, Serial No. 688,950, filed August 7, 1946', for "Case Closing and Sealing Apparatus and now abandoned, and the invention will be described in connection with the sealing apparatus disclosed in that application. Such apparatus together with the improved adhesive applying mechanism is illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view of the carton closing and sealing apparatus in longitudinal section on line l-l of Fig. 2 with the side frame removed but showing the frame upright members;

Fig; 2 is a view in horizontal section taken on line2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3: is a plan view of the apparatus shown inFig. 1;

Fig. 4 shows a modified form of glue applying mechanism and is a view in section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 5. It is also a fragmentary vertical transverse section with respecttov Fig. l and is drawn to about the same scale as that figure;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of this modification drawn to a larger scale than Fig. 4, taken on broken line 55 of Figs. 4 and 6;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section of the modification taken on line 6--6 of Fig. 5;

of take-up sprockets I9.

(Cl. II8.220)

Fig. 6ais a fragmentary top view showinga detail;

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section taken on line l--'! of Fig. 6.

Referring now to. the accompanying drawings, the apparatus is divided into sections. Theflap heating section is indicated by reference character A, while Bindicates the adhesive applying section, 0 the flap folding section and D the sealing Pressure applying or compression unit section. A case slideway, indicated generally by reference numeral l extends from end to end of the. apparatus interconnecting these four sections. The entrance at the right as viewed in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 and the discharge at the left. The shipping cases are receivedon a roller supporting table Zat the entrance end and pass from table 2 onto. another-roller table 3 which iswithin the flap heating section A.

From the beginning of the adhesive applying section B and continuing through the flap folding section C the cases are supported on a smooth stationary plate 4, the left-hand end portion 5 of which is tapered to a rounded point and is customary to facilitate the folding of the bottom flaps. In the sealing section D the cases are supported on a wide belt 6 which extends throughout sealing'section D. and is in turn supported on a series of closely spaced rollers l. Belt 6 moves freely on rollers 1 and is shifted forward by the movement of the case.

The cases are propelled through the slideway l and along the roller table 3, stationary plate 4 and belt, 6 by means of a pair of power operated conveyer chains 8 which have spaced flight bars 9 extending between them to engagethe rear of the cases and push them forward. Chains. 8. travel in horizontal supporting channels l0 (Fig. 1) throughout the length of slideway I, these channels being appropriately supported on the frame of the machine which consists essentially of four upright channel posts H joined together by suitable longitudinal and transverse tie-bars.

At the front or receiving end of the slideway chains 8 are supported on sprockets l2, and

at the discharge end they pass over smaller sprockets I3 and engage a pair of large drive sprockets I 4 which are supported on a cross 1 shaft l5. Chains 8 then are directed downwardly to a point near the bottom and are trained around guide sprockets l6 and take-up sprockets l7 and I 8 to the front end of the machine where they pass around a second pair The cases are main-- tained in transverse alignment with the operating parts of the several sections A, B, C, and D by means of upper and lower sets of adjustable guide bars or rails 20 (Fig.1)

Shaft is which turns the drive sprockets it for the conveyor chains 8 is driven by an electric motor 2| which is operatively connected to shaft l through a speed reducing gear 22. Motor 2| drives the reducer input shaft l5 through a belt 23 and the slow speed or output shaft 24 of the speed reducer is chain connected to shaft I5 by means of a sprocket chain 25 operating on suitable sprockets on the respective shafts.

Electric motor 2i is not operated continuously but intermittently and automatically under the control of the case entering the machine. That is to say when a case enters the flap heater section A it engages and closes a normally open starting switch 26 and the machine operates through a pre-determined cycle of movement as determined by the control mechanism (not shown). This cycle of movement includes a predetermined limited operation of the conveyer chains 8 together with the operation of the sealing pressure applying mechanism D, all of which will be more fully described later.

The operator of the machine stands at one side of the roller table 2 and may pack the container by hand, while on this table, or the filled cases may be fed automatically to table 3 by mechanism such as shown in U. S. Patent No. 2,324,401 operated in timed relation to conveyer 8. In the event that the cases are hand packed the operator receives a supply of the bars of soap, food packages, or other articles on a suitable conveyer within her convenient reach near roller table 2. The operator first squares out by hand a shipping case blank placing it on roller table 2 with its inner bottom flaps closed and with its outer bottom flaps hanging down along each side of the roller table. The inner and outer top fiaps the operator folds outwardly where they are held by their own weight and resiliency during the insertion of the articles in the case.

After the case is filled the operator folds the inner top flaps against the contents of the case and pushes the filled case by hand from roller table 2 onto roller table 3. The side of the case strikes the lever of starting switch 26 closing the switch and shortly a flight bar 9 carried by chains 3 rises around sprockets l2 and, engaging rear end of the case, pushes it forward to the left to the flap heating position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and designated by the letter H. As the case enters the machine the downward hanging bottom outer flaps 28 which have a natural tendency to bend toward one another, are forced outwardly to vertical position by fiap guides 29 (Fig. 2) which form parts of the lower flap heaters.

The top, side or outer flaps 30, which naturally assume some such position are also swung to vertical position, and this is accomplished by means of inwardly and upwardly inclined folder bars 3! (Fig. 1). In the event that flaps 30 should be inclined toward one another instead of away from one another as the case enters the machine, a second pair of oppositely angled guides 32 is provided. Bars SI and guides 32 are sup ported by the upper flap heaters. As the case enters the machine the operator holds down the inner case flaps by hand until the front edge of the rear inner flap passes beneath the central inner flap holding rail 33 which extends longitudinally of the machine from the front end to 4 a point just in front of the sealing pressure section D.

At position H (Fig. 1) the flap inner surfaces are in contact with the heating surfaces of the four flap heaters (preferably electric) of heating section A, two provided at the top and two at the bottom, one heater for each flap.

After the case has remained at position H, that is with the flaps within the heaters of heating section A, for a period of about six seconds the operator pushes another filled case into the entrance of slideway l, and this succeeding case closes starting switch 26 a second time and con- Veyer chains 8 again move to advance the first case from position I-I through the adhesive applying mechanism B and flap closing section C to position S shown by dot and dash lines in Fig. 1, where the case is within the sealing pressure mechanism D.

The adhesive applying mechanism includes four similar units, one for each flap, and a detailed description of only one will be given. Each of the adhesive applying devices has an elongated stationary vertical casing 49 which is bracket mounted at its upper end.

Casing 49 has a vertical bore within which a tubular valve member 50 is fitted. On the side of casing 49 towards flap 30 the casing is provided with a narrow vertical slot (not shown) and valve member 5%) also has a similar vertical slot. When valve member 50 is turned to bring these two slots into registry with one another, adhesive is allowed to flow outward onto the surface of flap, the flap being held in contact with the slotted mouth of casing 49 by means of a yieldably mounted pressure roller 53.

It is necessary to turn valve member 50 throughonly a small angle in order to cut off the flowv of the adhesive. The supply of adhesive is admitted to the interior of tubular valve member 50 through a cored passageway in casing 49 and an opening in the side of valve member 56. The adhesive is led through suitable piping to the four appliers. This piping is indicated by numeral 56 and leads from an upper adhesive reservoir 51 to the adhesive appliers for the upper flaps. A second adhesive reservoir 58 is connected through similar piping 59 to the two lower adhesive appliers.

Reservoir 51 is mounted on the left-hand horizontal upper side frame member 60 of the machine and hence is raised or lowered with this frame member as the upper frame is adjusted for the purpose of adapting the apparatus for cases of different height. For this purpose the two side frame members 60 are secured to the upright posts II by means of bolts 6! which cooperate with vertical slot 62 in the posts. Consequently, considerable range of vertical adjustment is provided.

The lower adhesive reservoir 58 is mounted on the left-hand lower fixed side frame member 63 (Fig. 2). It is necessary to carry piping 59 from this reservoir downward to a point below the lower flap heaters in order to clear the downwardly extended flaps as they leave the heaters and pass into engagement with the adhesive appliers. The yieldable rollers 53 are of the same height as the adhesive appliers 49 and are each pivotally mounted on a forked lever 64 (Fig. 1) which is pivoted at 65 on a bracket 66 mounted on a part of one of the flap heaters. Rollers 53 are urged towards the applier casings 49 by tension springs 53a.

Each of the tubular valves 50 of the four adhesiveappliers providedwith; an actuating lever- N toturn' the valve to control the flow of ad hesive'. The mechanism forsimultaneously' aetuating thesefour valves 50 so as to properly control the' applicationof adhesive-to the flaps isillustrated more particularly Figs 1,. 2, and-3. Actuating lever 61 for the two lower valves 5c is con-- nected by 66* pivote'dzat their outer ends to operating 69 which are'pinned'to'anoperat ingcross-shaft I pivoted: for rocking movement in the lower side frame members 63; similarly the two upper valve members 50 are connected to an upper operating cross-shaft II, the linkage being identical and illustrated. in Fig; 3 without the application of reference numeral thereto; The two operating. shafts I0 and H are interconnected for simultaneous rocking movement by means of a link I2 whichi'spivotedto two'equal length arms I3, one pinned'to each. of the respec tive shafts I0 and 'I I.

Rock shafts I0 and II are actuated. bymeans of a cam device 14 mounted on a cam shaft I5 in a manner to be described. A roller lfiengages the face of cam member I4 and; is carried by a lever 11 pivoted at its lower end to the frame". of the machine and at its upper end'by a link 78 which transfers the movement of the lever to an arm I9 pinned to' lower rock shaft Roller I6 is held against cam device I4 by two tension springs Illashown in Fig. 1. Cam shaft I5 is chain connected to shaft I5 by means of a sprocket chain 80 passing over suitable sprockets on the respective shafts.

Cam device I4 is arranged. to effect the opening of the valves 50 of the glue appliers in timed relation to the arrival of the forward ends of the case flaps between the housings 49 of the glue ap pliers and the pressure rollers 53. It also cuts off the glue at the centers of the flaps, skipping a shortspace' where the outer flaps contact the edges of the inner flaps when closed, and then reopensthe applier valves,- finally closing them as the rear edges of the flaps leave the adhesive appliers.

The instant of opening and finally closing the valves varies with thelength of the case and so also does the skipping point. In order that such adjustments may be made, cam device I4 includes four flatplates mounted in contact with another (Fig. 2). The innermost plate iskeyed to earn-- shaft I5 and the other three plates are loose on theshaft and angularly adjustable in position by means of a pair of bolts 8| which are received in arcuate slots in the three cam plates and are threaded into the fourth plate. The cam forma= tions on the three cam plates areshown in side view in Fig. 1, the short lobe 82 constituting the skip-opening-and-closing cam.

As the cycle-of the machine continues and the rear ends of the flaps of the case, passing from the heating section A to scaling pressure section D, emerge from the glue appliers 49, their for ward edges engage two pairs of stationary warped surface flap folding or closing members 89 (Figs. 1, 2, and 3) Upper closing members 89 turn the two outer flaps from the vertical position in which they left the glue appliers toward one another and fold them into horizontal position bringing their inner heated surfaces, to which the adhesive has been applied, into contact with the surfaces of the inner flaps which are held in closed horizontal position against the contents of the case by rail 33. Similarly the lower flap folders fold the bottom outer flaps into an engagement with. the bottom inner flaps, the

6. pointed end portion 5 of supporting'tablezl allow ihg'thismovement.

In the continued advance of the case it arrives at positions on belt 6! which supports the case at the sealing pressure section D; At this point theflight-bar 9. at the rear of the case engages the; operating lever of a normally closed stopping switch 91 (Fig. l)- and opens the same thereby stopping motor 2| which operates the: conveyor. The opening of stoppingswitch 9| also causes the. operation of the sealing pressure mechanism at stationD and immediately places the flaps of;

thecase under sealing pressure. This apparatusat station D comprises a rectangular pressure plate 92 of a size to accommodate the largest shipping case which the apparatus is adapted: to-

handle. Presser plate 92 is suspended from the lower ends of four rods 93 which are vertically slidable in apertures ina supporting structure 94 mounted on the two upper side frame members 61h Rods 93 have collars 95 fixed to them to limit the upward movement of presser plate 92, andv coil springs 96, which surround the upper por tions of each of rods 93, rest upon the upper sur-- face of supporting structure 94 and. engage collars 91 fixed at the upper ends of rods 93. Springs 96 normally hold rods 93 and presser plate 92 in.v

their uppermost positions as determined by the contact of collars 95 with the lower surfaceof structure 94.

Presser plate at is forced downwardly by means of an air cylinder 98 having a vertically reciprocating piston 99 therein which operates pr'esser plate 92 through a piston rod I05. is supplied to cylinder 88 from a. supply line it! through a control valve I 02 and. an interconnecting pipe I 93; valve I92 being electromagnetically operated by means of a solenoid- I84. When solenoid Hi l i energized, air control valve I92 is actuated to cutoff air cylinder 98' from air pressure supply pipe NH and to open the interior of the cylinder above the piston to atmosphere through exhaust connection I05. When the solenoid is deenergizedthe reverse operation takes place and the air pressure is connected to cylinder 98 and forces piston 99 and presser plate 92 downwardly compressing springs 96 and applying the desired sealingpressure'tc the 'shipping cas'e at position S.

In Figs. 4*? inclusive a modified form of glue applier is illustrated In this modification, the. adhesive, instead of being extruded or ejected under pressure under the control of a valvemechanism, is applied by means of an adhesivecarrying roll which is rotated at the same surface speed as the linear speed of the flap-and- The adhesive applying roll is coated with a. film of adhesive of the desired thickness and such film is taken up by the surface of the flap. In the'pre'sent machine the flaps are opened to the 90 position in respect to the surface of the case; This requires that the glue rollers rotate on vertical axes and consequently something of a problem is presented in maintaining the glue applying roll coated with a film of the desired uniform thickness. Also, because of the factthat the glue applying mechanism must be disposed between the two pairs of vertically positioned flaps, the minimum Width of case which can be accommodated in the machine is determined by the thickness of the glue applying. device; In other words, the minimum width of the case is about twice the thickness of the glue applying mechanism and one of the-probe.

lems is to provide this mechanism with the necessary adhesive reservoir, applying roll and roll coating mechanism, and still permit the carton closing and sealing machine to operate on shipping cases of comparatively small width, for instance in the neighborhood of eight inches.

Referring now to Figs. and 6 the modified form of glue applying mechanism comprises a vertical housing I33, conveniently made in the form of a casting, and in which are contained an adhesive reservoir I34, a vertical adhesive applying roll I and a shallow sump I36 for collecting surplus adhesive from roll I35. For convenience housing I33 is made with a removable bottom I33a held in place by screws as indicated in Fig. 7.

Glue roll I35 is keyed to an operating shaft I31 which projects from the top of housing I33 and on the upper end of which a driving sprocket I38 is fixed. Shaft I3? is rotated continuously during the operating cycle of the machine, that is, while a case is passing from position H to position S. For this purpose sprocket I38 may be connected by means of a chain I39 to any convenient rotating shaft of the machine.

At its lower end, shaft I3I is reduced in diameter and is supported in a stationary sleevelike bearing I46 which project upwardly from bottom member I33a. Turning on the outer surface of bearing projection I46 there is a gear I4I Whose teeth mesh with the teeth of a second gear I42 forming a gear pump for supplying adhesive under pressure for application to the surface of roll I35. Pump gears I4I, I42 rotate in recesses cored in bottom member 3311. Since it is necessary to operate the pump gears at a higher rotating speed than that of shaft I31, the pump gears are driven by a second vertical shaft I43 whose lower end is connected to drive gear I42 and whose upper end has secured to it a pinion I44 which meshes with a gear I45 keyed to shaft I31.

Gear pump I4I, I42 discharges adhesive into the lower end of a vertical passageway I46 which may be recognized in Fig. 5 by its nearly semicircular cross-section. The pressure supplied by the pump is sufficient to cause the adhesive to rise to the top of this passage. From this passage the adhesive is distributed into a narrow or thin substantially semi-cylindrical space I41 which extend from the bottom to the top of easing I33 adjacent glue roll I35 so that the surface of the adhesive applying roll I35 as it rotates is brought in contact with the adhesive under pressure in this shell-like semi-cylindrical space I41. Roll I35 rotates in the counter-clockwise d1- rection as shown in Fig. 5, as shown by the arrow, and the adhesive carried forward by the surface of the roll is reduced to a thin film of the desired thickness by means of a. substantially square metal scraper I48, one corner of which is placed close to but out of contact w1th the surface of roll I35. Scraper I48 is mounted on a pivot shaft I49 which is disposed in a recess in casing I33 parallel with shaft I43. At the upper end an adjusting handle I56 is keyed to shaft I49 and the whole structure may be locked in the position to which it is adjusted by means of a screw I5I passing through an arcuate slot I52 in a part of handle I and threaded into casing I33.

In order to prevent adhesive from escaping freely from the upper end of the shell-like semicylindrical space I41 a doctor roll I53 is provided which is preferably a hardened roll made for example of stainless steel and the surface of which rotates close to but slightly spaced from the surface of glue applying roll I35 so as not to wear the surface of this roll since it is preferably made of softer material, such for example as bronze.

The doctor roll I53 is driven in the same direction of rotation as shaft I31 by means of a short sprocket chain I 54 which connects two sprockets, one keyed to the upper end of shaft I37 and the other fixed on the upper end of a shaft I55 on which doctor roll I53 is mounted. The contiguous surfaces of rolls I35 and I53 consequently move in opposite directions. A negligible amount of adhesive continuously escapes between these surfaces and is collected in sump I36.

' A shell-like semi-cylindrical space I56 extends around the rear surface of doctor roll I53 and is in communication with the similar space I4! previously described. Space I56 consequently is always filled with adhesive. This space is completely closed, however, by means of an adjustable scraping blade I5? the edge of which is adjusted into contact with hardened roll I53 and held in position by means of clamping screws I53.

The glue roll I35 and gear pump I4I, I42 operate a large part of the time with no flap in contact with the glue roll. During this time the film of adhesive which is carried forward by roll 35 past scraper I48, collects in sump I36 together with the adhesive which flows out between doctor roll I53 and roll I35. This adhesive is continuously pumped into the vertically disposed passage I46 by the gear pump, a passage being cored from sump I36 in the bottom member I33a of the easing. This passage is indicated by numeral I59 (Fig. '7) and delivers the adhesive to the teeth of gear I4I by which it is carried around to passage I46. It will be understood that gear I 42 receives adhesive from the bottom of reservoir I34. The vertically disposed passage I46 is provided at its upper end with an overflow outlet I60 through which adhesive can be returned to reservoir I34. Sump I36 is provided with a screen I6I which removes particles of lint or other foreign matter which are apt to be carried by the surfaces of flaps and deposited on glue roll I35.

' It will be understood that one of the adhesive applying devices above described may be mounted on the carton closing and sealing apparatus in place of each of the valve type adhesive appliers 49, in which event there will be four roll type adhesive appliers, two above and two below the case slideway I. In Fig. 4 one such adhesive applier is shown as operating upon a top flap 36 and a second upon a bottom flap 28. Outer flap guide rolls I62 are mounted on stationary supporting brackets I63 to support the outsides of the flaps and hold the flaps against the glue rolls. The only difference between these upper and lower adhesive appliers is that shafts I31 and I43 are extended through the bottom of the casing I33m of the lower device instead of through the top. Consequently the operating sprockets and gears are located at the bottom instead of the top.

This being the only difference, the remainder of the description will be confined to an upper glue applier. The casing I33 of the device is pivotally mounted on a vertical stationary rod I64 which may be secured to a bracket similar to bracket 46 (Fig. 2). Rod IE4 is received in aligned apertures in two spaced lugs I65 which project from the rear of casing I33, and a collar M6 is adinstablynxed on rod lfit .ibeneathione .of these ilugs thereby ipiyotazlly supporting easing 13.3

on the rod.

is desired to apply adhesive throughout the length vof the case flaps piyotalsupport of the glue applying deyice isrunnecessary and the front end of :casing 433 maybentixed anyisuitabrle manner toltheframe r theclcsing and sealing. machine. If, however, it is desired to .omit theadhesiwte from the center .of theltiap, that is, :to "slripsglue the fiapaeasing 21:33 is swung about pivot vsha-tt 1.64.1120 move rglue roller Lift-'5 out ofjcontaet with the case for .a short dnteryail while the center of the flapais passing the roll. This maybe accom.- plished :by means of the cam device-ital and the system of *links and 'rocksshafts previously- .de, scribed for operatingthBuzVBJh/GS 1.50. (With modified form .of glue applier, ihowever, .cam device tilt is ire assernbled with only the-cam plate which has the singlecan: lobet82, as this single short cam will effect the momentary removal of glue roll ,{35 from the center of the flap.

With thecIQSLng-andsaIing apparatus assembled wilzh $1 6 yer-tieal-roll type glue applying devices of Figs. 4 7 in place of the glue appliers 49, dslitriare ts tpt s -i pl ces? ists strea actuate thefour valve members ,fifi, the new rods being similar to the old but of different length. Each 10f rods 68m is connected to swing'one of thdadhesivedevicecasings res on its supporting pivot shaft 64 by-mechanism-such for example as "is shown in Eig. -5. i -heend of rod iitmi is pivoted tolone arm of-abell crank lever 15 which is pivoted at |-68to-a bracket-459 supportedin any convenient manner on the aframe of the machine. The other arm of lever I6! is pivoted at H to a short link ill, the opposite end of which is pivoted at H2 to the outer end (upper end in Fig. 6) of easing I33. This linkage mechanism is therefore above the tops of the extended upper flaps and below the bottoms of the extended lower flaps. V

In the improved case closing and sealing apparatus the case flaps are unfolded only 90 to vertical position instead of being rotated through 4 an angle of 180 and extended horizontally from the opposite sides of the case, as has heretofore been customary in commercial apparatus of this kind. The rotation of the flaps to vertical position only, permits the width of the apparatus to be considerably reduced. Moreover, the flap heaters are easily applied to the vertically extended flaps. In addition, the utilization of heaters for heating the flaps prior to the application of the adhesive so shortens the time of the setting of the adhesive as to make it possible to employ the reciprocating presser plate type of compression unit in which the cases are held in stationary position until the adhesive has set. This arrangement greatly reduces the overall length of the apparatus.

The embodiments of the present invention which have been illustrated as exemplifying the apparatus of the invention have been described in considerable detail, but it will be understood that numerous changes can be made in the arrangement and construction of the apparatus without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope thereof as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. An adhesive applying device adapted to be disposed in the path of travel of a case flap to apply adhesive to a surface thereof comprising a casing containing an adhesive reservoir and a sum-p, an adhesive applying rollmounted in said casing tor rotation on a vertical axis andadapted .to contact the .case flap and to coatthe same adhesive, an adhesive circulating system .within saidlcasing including means for withdrawing adhesive from said lreseravoir and dis.- posing it on the surface of said an 'adiustable scrapericooperating withnsaid roll to reduce said adhesive to a thin film and to .control the thickness thereof, a doctor roll cooperating with said adhesive applying roll at an angular distance from said scraper .to prevent thefreeiiow of ad.- hesive drom said circulating system, said .doctor roll :.being disposed .with its surface contiguous but out of contact with that of said adhesive applying roll, means for driving :said rolls so that said contiguous surfaces more :in opposite diio i thereby p rmi ing only a ne ligible amount of adhesiveito escape between them, said sump zbeing disposed to collect such adhes r and adhesive :tnom said adhesive app1yins- .ro and pump gneans tor withdrawin adh sir rf zqm ..aid sump and returning it to sa d ci cula n stra a.

Anadhesive.app yina evice con au tefi and arranged tozbedisposei th path efltra e pf a substantially yertical case fla to app ad.- hesive :to a surface there com isin a cas n containin an adhesiMe res x an rad sstt applyin xfiyli'l'kd fimQ ntfidin id casin :for s9- tation pp a substant ally e t ga.1aids and 529mst tuqtegl and aiqrangedztoenga efiaid dlap to coat the same with adhesive, a doctor rolld-isposed at one side 10f said cy inde wit its surfa e cantisuous to zbp teut Q ontact wit that of said xlin ar m ans rfq ..d i .r .ns said c linder and said roll so that said contiguous surfaces move in opposite directions thereby permitting only a negligible amount of adhesive to escape between them, a sump to collect such adhesive, an adhesive receiving chamber formed in said casing on the opposite side of said cylinder and roll from the case flap, a scraper coacting with said doctor roll to prevent escape of adhesive from said chamber, an adjustable scraper cooperating with said cylinder to reduce the adhesive received on said cylinder from said chamber to a thin film and to control the thickness thereof for application to the flap, an overflow passage into said reservoir at the top of said recess, and pump means for withdrawing adhesive from said reservoir and from said sump and supplying it to said recess thereby continuously recirculating the adhesive.

3. In a machine of the class described, means for conveying a succession of cases along a horizontal path of travel with the outer or side flaps thereof extending vertically from the cases, and adhesive applying means disposed in stationary position between the paths of said vertical flaps for applying adhesive to the inner vertical surfaces of the flaps of said successive cases.

4. In a machine of the class described, means for conveying a. case along a path of travel with the outer or side flaps thereof extending substantially vertically from the case, and adhesive applying means for applying adhesive to the. inner substantially vertical surfaces of said flaps comprising a substantially vertical rotating cylinder engaging each of said flaps, a casing for each of said cylinders disposed between said substantially vertical flaps, said casing also containing an adhesive reservoir and a sump, an adhesive circulating system within said casing including pump means for withdrawing adhesive from said reservoir and disposing it on the surface of said cylinder, an adjustable scraper cooperating with said cylinder to reduce said adhesive to a thin film and to control the thickness thereof, said sump being disposed to collect said adhesive from said cylinder, said pump means also withdrawing adhesive from said sump and returning it to said circulating system.

5. In a machine in the class described, means for conveying a case along a path of travel with the outer or side flaps thereof extending substantially vertically from the case, and adhesive applying means for applying adhesive t the inner substantially vertical surfaces of said flaps comprising a substantially vertical rotating cylinder engaging each of said flaps, a casing for each of said cylinders disposed between said substantially vertical flaps, said casing also containing an adhesive reservoir disposed in upstanding position alongside of said cylinder, and a shallow sump, an adhesive circulating system within said casing including pump means for withdrawing adhesive from said reservoir and disposing it on the surfac of said cylinder, an adjustable scraper cooperating with said cylinder to reduce said adhesive to a thin film and to control the thickness thereof, said shallow sump being disposed at the bottom of said casing to collect adhesive from said cylinder, said pump means being disposed between said shallow sump and the bottom of said upstanding reservoir, and an inlet passage to said pump from said sump as well as from said reservoir.

6. In a machine of the class described, means for conveying a succession of cases along a horizontal path of travel with the outer or side flaps thereof extending vertically from the cases, and a plurality of adhesive applying means disposed in stationary positions between the paths of said vertical flaps for applying adhesive to the inner surfaces of the flaps of said successive cases, each of said adhesive applying means comprising a casing having an adhesive reservoir, an adhesive applying roll mounted in said casing for rotation on a vertical axis, an adhesive circulating system within said casing including pump means for withdrawing adhesive from said reservoir and disposing it on the surface of said roll, means for allowing the surplus to return to the reservoir, and an adjustable scraper cooperating with said roll to reduce said adhesive to a thin film and to control the thickness thereof, said casing not being substantially wider in a direction normal to the paths of the vertical flaps than said roll, and the reservoir beingv disposed in upright position substantially parallel therewith and with the paths of the vertical flaps.

KAYE HOLSTEBROE. EDGAR ARDELL. LUDWIG WIMMER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 13,412 Norton Apr. 30, 1912 2,097,428 Bergstein Nov. 2, 1937 2,218,112 Kaufmann Oct. 15, 1940 2,352,720 Knowlton July 4, 1944 2,381,961 Knowlton Aug. 14, 1945 2,406,056 Barrett Aug. 20, 1946 

